


To Pry Away at the Heart

by Justaseck



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Natasha Romanov, Calm Natasha Romanov, Helpful Natasha Romanov, Hurt Tony Stark, Marvel Universe, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Poor Tony Stark, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, natasha romanov - Freeform, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 20:54:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16899681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justaseck/pseuds/Justaseck
Summary: After a battle Tony is injured and can't get the chest piece of his armor off. Natasha, being the calm badass that she is, helps him.





	To Pry Away at the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I would love it if you dropped a line in the comments. That would be the most amazing thing ever. And smash the kudos button because it such a wonderful feeling seeing people enjoying the fics. Thank you to all who read this and make me feel good. :) You all are wonderful people. 
> 
> Like my other fics, I pretty much focus on Tony and Natasha because I think they are the best Marvel characters and there should be more Tony/Nat friendship in the world. So I will write it to be so.

Tony gasped as waves of pain washed over him, unrelenting. He had taken a blow to the chest in their last battle. 

And now he was hiding down in his lab as he pried at the deformed chest piece of the armor. He had flown straight back to the lab after the fighting had stopped, muting his com so the others wouldn't hear his stream of curses as the throbbing pain was all he could focus on. 

A line of blood followed the curve of the metal and began a constant dripping, pooling on the lab floor. As his head swam, he heard Jarvis in the background mutely tell him the others were back at the compound. 

Steeling himself, he made another attempt at removing the plate. His fingers slipped, now slick with blood. He blinked back tears as the feeling of panic began to rise. His breathing shortened and the rational side of his brain screamed at him to stop and calm down, each sharp breath making the pain worse. This was not a good time for a panic attack. But it seemed the rational part of his brain was quickly losing out. 

He didn't register anyone entering the lab. Couldn't make the connection that someone was speaking to him until he felt a hand on his forearm as he leaned over panting at the workbench. 

"Tony? Tony! What's wrong?" The first words were unclear, his mind still trying to desperately stave off both the pain and the panic attack. 

He grasped the hand and squeezed it, trying to ground himself. "Chest... can't, I can't.. it won't come off." He gasped for air. The other hand that he wasn't squeezing the life out of patted his shoulder. 

"Okay. We're going to get it off. I got you." This time his brain was able to recognize the voice as Natasha's as she grabbed the chair that was within reach. She guided him down into it, watching as the lines of pain deepened with the motion. 

"Shit, Tony, why didn't you say something? Where's something that can cut through this? Because prying it isn't going to work." She snapped fingers in front of his glazed eyes. 

"Tony! You're going to have to help me out here. Where's the grinder at?" His eyes met hers and he gestured over to a toolbox. "There's a grinder with..." His hand released hers as he clutched his chest. "A cutting wheel over there." She ran and grabbed it, plugging it in. His eyes met hers again as he slowly lowered his hand away from his chest. 

"This is going to hurt." That was all the warning she gave along with an apologetic face before he could feel the vibrations of the cutting tool start. It was excruciating. The pressure needed to cut the metal pushed it further into his chest. His vision began to sparkle as black dots danced across it. 

Natasha was muttering soft platitudes and apologizing over and over. He felt one piece being cut free. The pain in that area seemed to multiply as blood freely poured out the cuts. "One more piece, Tony, I'm sorry." And that was the last thing he really remembered until he was pushing himself off the top of the workbench with a gasp and a choked cry. 

Hands met his shoulders as he surged upwards. "Be calm, Stark. You're okay." Well, okay was a relative term but he was no longer freely bleeding on the floor with his chest piece stuck to him. He swayed as he sat up all the way. 

He glanced down and then back at Natasha in confusion, pointing to the bandages that now covered his chest and torso. She grimaced at him. "Yeah, you're going to be sore for awhile. But you're no longer ruining the floor with blood so you've got that going for you." 

He took a semi-deep breath, testing the pain level. It was manageable. At least he would keep telling himself that. Natasha released his shoulders, a reaction to making sure he didn't fall off the table as he sat up. She looked up at him in concern. "You know you can come to us if you need help." 

He let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't make eye contact. "I didn't think it was going to be that bad, honest. It's just..." He sighed again. "When things happen with the reactor, it's not my first instinct to get help with it. 

He saw Natasha nod in understanding from the corner of his eye. He shifted, and noting that he was still sitting in the workbench, eased himself off and headed slowly towards the couch. 

Natasha was instantly back at his side. Flashing her a smile, he said softly, "It's gonna take more than that to take me down, Nat." Giving him a small smile back as they both sat on the couch, she leaned over to spread a blanket across him. "I know. But that doesn't make it any easier seeing you hurt." He patted her hand. 

"Thank you for helping. I'm not sure what would've happened if you didn't, but I'm fairly certain I would have woken up with DUM-E dousing me with the fire extinguisher and Butterfingers making everything worse by poking the chest plate." He heard a distant chirp from the bots that were in their charging stations. 

Natasha let him get away with the redirect. She knew he didn't talk about squishy feelings. She could identify with that. She didn't do feelings either. But to say that her heart hadn't jumped up to her throat when she walked through the lab doors and saw him like that.. that would be a lie. 

Grabbing his hand she said none of this. "You're gonna be alright, Stark." And he would be. Because he always was. But dammit, if she ever saw one of those creatures that caused this damage to Tony, they wouldn't know what hit them.


End file.
